TV viewing and exercise habits 'may affect sperm count'

Young men who watch TV for more than 20 hours a week have almost half the sperm count of those who rarely watch TV, a study has found.

Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health looked at the semen quality of 189 men, aged 18 to 22, as well as the amount and intensity of exercise they did.

They found that those who watched 20 or more hours per week of television had a 44 per cent lower sperm count than those who watched the least.

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In contrast, men who did 15 or more hours of moderate to vigorous exercise each week had sperm counts that were 73 per cent higher than those who rarely exercised.

However, light exercise had no effect on sperm count.

Publishing their findings in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the researchers suggested that leading a physically active lifestyle could help to improve semen quality.

'Future studies should also evaluate the extent to which different exercise types affect semen quality, as previous studies suggest that there might be opposing effects of different types of activity on semen characteristics,' they said.

Audrey Gaskins, a doctoral student at Harvard, added that identifying two potentially modifiable factors for sperm count was 'truly exciting'.

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